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In Old Chinese, the word líng yǔ means prison or cell, which refers to the place where the state uses to hold prisoners. Judging from the historical records, the mainland had prisons at least during the Xia Dynasty.
"Zuo Chuan Zhao Gong Four Years" has "Xia Qi has the enjoyment of Juntai, and Shang Tang has the fate of Jing Qi". The "Juntai" here, also known as "Xiatai", in the south of present-day Yu County, Henan Province, was the year when the princes of Xia Qi and the princes of the Four Directions supported Xia Qi to inherit the throne of his father Dayu, and Chinese society began to enter the hereditary system of "father passing on to son, family world"; later, "Juntai" appeared another function of the national prison for prisoners, and in the last year of the Xia Dynasty, Xia Jie imprisoned Shang Tang here. After defeating Xia Jie and overthrowing the Xia Dynasty, Shang Tang established the Yin Shang Dynasty, which was founded in Jingbo (景亳) (southeast of present-day Shangqiu, Henan Province). In the Yin Shang Dynasty, there was a place called "Tong Palace", which was the place where Yi Yin, an important auxiliary of the Yin Shang Dynasty, exiled and imprisoned the eldest grandson taijia of the Shang Dynasty, and the Tong Palace also referred to the place where the deposed emperor or the imprisoned emperor lived in later historical documents. In the last years of the Yin Shang Dynasty, when Ji Chang, who later became the King of Zhou Wen, was imprisoned by the King of Shang (yǒu) in Licheng (in present-day Tangyin County, Anyang, Henan Province), so there should be another place called "Qili" in the state prison of the Shang Dynasty. Sima Qian of the Han Dynasty pointed out in the Book of Baoren An: "King Wen performed "Zhou Yi" in a restrained manner; Zhongni'er wrote "Spring and Autumn"; Qu Yuan exiled him and gave him a "departure from sorrow"; Zuo Qiu was blind and had "Chinese". The "detention" here means to be imprisoned and made a big prison.
Prisons are part of the state apparatus of the ruling class, and the prisoners held in them are classified as death row prisoners, some as heavy prisoners, some as ordinary prisoners, and the sentences and convictions are different, and the results are even more different. However, in the long feudal society, there have also been scenes of rulers taking the initiative to release prisoners in custody, some of them are the emperor himself doing this kind of thing, and more is the county prefect doing this kind of thing, which is memorable to read. It mainly occurs in the following situations.
The first is to send prisoners home for a reunion during traditional festivals such as "New Year" and "Winter".
According to the "Biography of the Liang Officials of the Jin Dynasty", cao shu (shū), a tanner of the State of Jin (in present-day Anhui), was very filial to his parents when he was young, had good conduct, and liked to read and write articles. After taking office, he first washed her grievances for a widow in Linzi County who was filial to her mother-in-law, returned her innocence, and changed her from the original death sentence to acquittal. Because Cao Xi's work was upright and bright, and the prison was just, he was called "Cao Qingtian" by the people.
At that time, there were still a number of prisoners in the county prison, and it was almost the time of the New Year, and when Cao Yu inspected the prison, he saw that these prisoners were very pitiful, and he couldn't help but feel pity, because he knew that many of these prisoners were forced to embark on the road of crime, and some of them may have been beaten into confession. So he said to the prisoners, "What if the secretary of state is unfortunate enough to cause this?" In the new year, people are heavy, don't you want to see the evil family for a while? "Does that mean that you people are unfortunately locked up in this place, and now that it is almost the New Year, do you still want to go home and reunite with your family for a while?"
All the prisoners who did not want to, they all wept and said, "If you have to return temporarily, there will be no hatred in death." ”
Therefore, Cao Yu ordered the prison guards to open all the prison doors, let all the death row prisoners go home for the New Year, and agreed with them on a date, and they must come back on time at the specified time to stay in prison.
Cao Xianling's decision-making scared the jailers to death, and all of them stood up and argued with Cao Xian, saying that "it is impossible to do anything!"!
Cao Xi did the ideological work of his colleagues and said: "Although these people are inferior villains, I believe that they must be people who pay attention to faith and righteousness, and will not break their promises; if they have responsibilities, they will be borne by me alone. ”
When everyone saw that the county order had said this, they no longer objected; they turned around and seized the time to do the ideological work of the prisoners, hoping that they would count their words, not to live up to the good intentions of the county order, and to return on time when the prescribed time came.
Where are the prisoners' impermissible gifts? One by one, he prostrated his head and thanked him, and happily went home for the New Year and reunited with his relatives.
Fast forward to the day when the regulations were returned, only to see that the prisoners "returned at the same rate, and there was no violation", all returned to the prison on time and continued to live the life of a prisoner.
Cao Wei's benevolent government action made "a county impressed", and the common people praised him one after another, praising him as a "holy prince". Soon, Because of his outstanding political achievements and good reputation, Cao Huan was promoted to Shangshulang by the imperial court, and later promoted to Luoyang Ling. His act of letting prisoners go home for the New Year has always been remembered by the people of Linzi.
According to the Book of Liang, vol. 20, "Biography of Wang Zhilie", Wang Zhi's grandfather Wang Zhishou was the Southern Dynasty Song Zuo Guanglu Dafu and The Marquis of Yuning Wen, and his father Wang Shengqian was also an official in the Southern Dynasty Qi, and his grandfather was a heavy minister of the Southern Dynasty Song and Qi Dynasties.
During the Song Dynasty, Wang Zhi married Princess Angu, the daughter of Emperor Xiaowu of Song and Emperor Liu Jun, and later moved taiwei to join the military, crown prince Sheren, and situ Chuyuan's master book; when he arrived in Qi, he was appointed as a zhongshu attendant and soon promoted to the history of Xuancheng. Although Wang Zhi was a nobleman and a relative of the emperor and the state, he was an official who was "clean and respectful and favored" and had a good reputation.
There were two people in Xuancheng County, one named Zhang Ni and the other named Wu Qing, and the two had a dispute over the land, and the contradictions were unresolved for many years. After Wang Zhi arrived at his post, his fathers and fellow villagers talked to each other, saying: "Wangfu County is an official with moral integrity, so why is there still a dispute over land in our township?" Everyone accused Zhang Ni and Wu Qing of not being. Forced by the pressure of public opinion in the township, the two sides came to Wang Zhi's side together and took the initiative to plead guilty and confess their mistakes, and the land they were fighting over finally became "idle land" and became public land.
Wang Zhi later became the general of Ning Shuo and the Taishou of Dongyang. There are more than ten heavy prisoners in dongyang county, and the annual winter solstice day has arrived, which is called "too big winter" by the people, which is regarded as the Spring Festival. In order to impress the prisoners, Wang Zhi ordered that all the prisoners be sent home and asked to return after the festival. The prisoners were so grateful that when the return date was stipulated, although they "all returned", there was still one prisoner who "lost time" and defaulted, and did not return to the team on time.
The prison directors originally did not approve of Wang Zhi's practice of sending prisoners home for the holidays, and there was a lot of discussion behind their backs, and some people wanted to take the opportunity to impeach Wang Zhi. Wang Zhi said to those who gossiped: "This matter was ordered by Ben Taishou himself, if there is a problem, the responsibility is all mine, and you who are doing specific things should not worry." ”
Early the next morning, the prisoner who did not return in time did come to the prison gate early and knelt down, saying in a loud voice that he could not stop being too guarded, because the prisoner's wife was pregnant and was going to give birth to a child, so he was a day late. Wang Zhi forgave the prisoner. The officials were thus even more impressed by Wang Zhi's ability to govern and were impressed by his benevolent and righteous deeds.
After serving in the local government for three years, Wang Zhi was appointed as a servant in the second year of Qi Yongming (484), and did not worship and was transferred to the official Shangshu. In the Liang Dynasty, he successively served as a former general, a champion general, Danyang Yin, a scattered horse changshi, a Zhongshu Ling, a guerrilla general, a Tai changqing, a Jiang Xia Taishou, and finally a jin zi guanglu doctor. He was a meritorious figure of the Song, Qi and Liang dynasties of the Southern Dynasty.
According to the New Book of Tang, volume 162, "Lü Yuan's Biography of Lü Yuan", in the era of Emperor Dezong of Tang, Lü Yuan was appointed as the Assassin of Pu prefecture. Once, when registering the list of prisoners for investigation, a prisoner said to him: "Parents are here, and tomorrow the old days will not be hated." This means that the father is alive, tomorrow is the first day of the year, but he cannot visit his parents, and he will regret it for the rest of his life. As he spoke, the prisoner burst into tears.
After Lü Yuanyi listened, he also felt very sympathetic, and compassion followed. So he gathered all the prisoners together, lifted all the shackles on them, and warned them of the date of their return, hoping that the prisoners would keep their promises and not break their promises.
The prison guards around him advised Lu Yuanbin not to do this, the risk was too great.
But Lü Yuanbin replied, "I treat people with faith, but do I disobey them?" "Meaning, I treat these prisoners with integrity, why should they disobey me and betray my faith?
Later, the prisoners who were released home for the New Year arrived at the scheduled time and all returned to the prison. Since then, the group of thieves have been chanting to each other, and they all feel ashamed, and they all left the territory of Puzhou, and some people washed their hands and did not do illegal things, and were determined to become people again.
The second is to have prisoners go home during the busy farming season to sow seeds and harvest.
According to the Old Book of Tang, volume 85, "Biography of Tang Lin", Tang Lin, a Chang'an man, was a servant of Wanquan County in the early years (618) of Li Yuanwude, the ancestor of Tang Gaozu. The county holds more than a dozen lesser offenders. At that time, it was already spring in March, it was the season when the spring rain was as expensive as oil, and it just happened that the sky had rained again, and the key moment of spring sowing had arrived.
Tang Lin, who was a county clerk, asked the county order for instructions, asking that these prisoners be released home and let them be temporarily reunited with their families, and at the same time, they should also arrange this year's crop work in a timely manner to ensure a bumper grain harvest.
The county commander was afraid of taking responsibility, afraid that the prisoners would not come back after they let them go, and that they would not be able to throw away their black gauze hats, so they did not agree at all.
Tang Ning knew the county order's thoughts, so he said, "If Ming Gong is suspicious, Tang Lin, I ask myself to take responsibility, and if there is a crime, I will bear it." ”
The county order thought about it again and again, and felt that although this matter was a good thing, it was risky and difficult to operate, and he really could not bear this responsibility, so he asked his superiors for leave and asked to go home to rest, during which time, the county Tang Lin presided over the daily work of the county. The superior agreed to the request of the county order.
So Tang Lin gathered all the prisoners together and told them about his good wishes, and the prisoners did not fail to weep. After everyone reached a gentleman's agreement, Tang Lin "ordered to return home to farm" and agreed on a time to return to the place of detention. The prisoners were all grateful to Dade, temporarily left the prison, returned to their homes, reunited with their loved ones, and at the same time grasped the spring ploughing production.
By the time of the agreed return, there were not many prisoners, "Bi Ji Yi Prison". Because of their trustworthiness, each of these prisoners received a commutation of sentences and leniency. And Tang Lin also gained a good political reputation because of this.
In the Tang Dynasty, Tang Taizong Li Shimin's careful handling of detainees was also deeply popular with the people.
According to the Old Book of Tang, Volume III, "Taizong Benjixia", in December of the sixth year of Zhenguan (632), Tang Taizong Li Shimin personally went to the prison to check the criminal records of prisoners, and 290 prisoners had been convicted of capital crimes. Li Shimin instructed that these death row inmates should be released home first, and then they would be sentenced in the last month of next autumn.
By the end of the autumn of the following year, all 290 prisoners had returned to prison on time, ready to continue their sentences.
After Li Shimin received the report, he "issued an edict to learn the original" and pardoned and released all these death row prisoners. The prisoners and their families and relatives all shouted long live Li Shimin, calling Li Shimin a benevolent prince and son of heaven.
The History of Song volume 332 records that Li Shizhong was a Chuqiu man, and at the age of fifteen he dared to speak to the imperial court and talk about current politics, and after passing the jinshi examination, his first position was that of Zhi County in Luochuan County. When he arrived, he found that there were so many prisoners in the county prison, and many of them were still the main labor force of the peasant families. So on the one hand, he stepped up the handling of the case file, and on the other hand, he considered that those criminals who had been qualitatively sentenced could be used in order not to miss the farm time when the busy agricultural season came. Whenever it came to spring sowing or autumn harvest, he ordered all the prisoners imprisoned in the big prisons to be released home, so that they could sow seeds in the crops or harvest the agricultural work, and then "make the peasant gap self-respecting officials", that is, wait until the busy season of farming, and then take advantage of the gap in the agricultural space to take the initiative to consciously return to the place where the official originally detained them and continue to squat in the big prison. Practice has proved that the prisoners who were released at that time were able to return consciously in the end, and many people were also released early because of this performance.
Li Shizhong was an official in politics, did not honor and punish, and obeyed people with honesty and loyalty; every time he left any place, on the day he left, the common people always "embraced the road and wept, and the horses could not do it", and the scene was very touching. Song Dynasty politicians and writers such as Fan Zhongyan and Fu Bi praised Li Shizhong for having Wang Zuozhicai.
The third is to give prisoners the opportunity to filial piety to their parents and reproduce.
In the "Biography of the Liang Officials of the Jin Dynasty", it is recorded that a county order was called "Divine King" by the common people, and his name was Qiao Zhiming.
Qiao Zhiming was once promoted by Sima Ying, the king of Chengdu, as a general of the auxiliary state, and after Sima Ying defeated Sima Lun the King of Zhao, he recommended Qiao Zhiming as a general of the Kou Dynasty, and at the same time made him the county commander of Longxu County and Gong County. Because he was diligent in government and loved the people, he was well-informed and fair, and was deeply loved by the people of the two counties, who called him "the king of god".
Qiao Zhiming had a subordinate named Zhang Dui, who broke the law for revenge for killing his father and was deeply imprisoned. Zhang Dui's mother is already very old, and although Zhang Dui married his wife, he does not have a son and a half daughter under his knees. When Qiao Zhiming saw this situation, he was very sympathetic and decided to "stop his imprisonment", that is, not to let Zhang Dui go to prison for the time being, and let him go home to reunite with his family. After more than a year, Zhang Dui was ordered to continue to go to prison, but this time he was allowed to "put his wife in prison", that is, to take his wife to prison together, and to "indulge" him, often secretly relaxing management and giving him a certain degree of freedom.
Someone advised Zhang Dui to escape, and Zhang Dui said, "If there is a jun like this, why should I bear it!" Even if I am spared, what face is there to live in the world! Zhang Dui did not live up to Qiao Zhiming's kindness and insisted on squatting in prison. Zhang Dui's wife also lived up to expectations, and indeed gave birth to a boy in prison and renewed incense for the Zhang family. Later, the imperial court granted amnesty, Zhang Dui was pardoned, and finally ended his prison life and returned home to live a happy life as a normal person.
As a county order, Qiao Zhiming touched and cared for the common people with a benevolent heart, and his reputation will forever be recorded in the annals of history, and the history is called "good official".
For some death row prisoners who were sentenced to capital punishment, in ancient times, they also gave humanistic care before their deaths.
The "History of the North" volume 77 "Biography of Pei Zhenglie" records that in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Pei Zheng, who was then the doctor under the Punishment Department, showed a certain ability to govern at a young age. When he handled the case, although the desk was full of files, "the dissection was like a stream, the use of the law was lenient, and there was no unjust abuse", and the law was enforced fairly, and there was not a single unjust, false or wrong case. If a prisoner commits capital punishment, he allows his wife on death row to accompany him until the winter when he is executed. Those convicted who were sentenced to death said, "Dr. Pei killed me, and there is nothing to hate in death."
In the early years of the Sui Dynasty, Pei Zheng served as the governor of Xiangzhou, but he did not take his wife to the post, and distributed all the proceeds of Feng Lu to the officials. However, if a subordinate official commits a crime, after he secretly knows it, sometimes even more than a year has passed, he does not talk to this person for a warning, but hopes that this person can consciously repent; if he finds that this official has repeatedly violated the law and does not accept it, he will "summon him in the crowd and personally commit his crime" when he convenes a meeting of his subordinates in a centralized manner. He sentenced five officials to death on the spot and sentenced them to exile, and these punished officials did not cry out for grievances. Because of the rectification of the administration of officials and the strict management of government officials, which won the hearts and minds of the people, from then on, the perpetrators of adultery throughout Xiangzhou were terrified and frightened, and no longer dared to act recklessly. Pei was forbidden by decree and was revered as a "god" by the local people.
After the policies, decrees, and disciplines were put in place, Pei Zheng took bold reform measures: directly "no prisons" were not repaired, that is, no prisons were set up, but there was no longer a phenomenon of litigation disputes in the localities.
Pei Zheng's political measures and achievements were approved by Emperor Wen of Sui, especially the deposed crown prince Yang Yong, who was even more nostalgic for Pei Zheng, believing that if the prince had a minister like Pei Zheng to adjust, he would not embark on the road of no return that would corrupt and degenerate and endanger the imperial power.
The fourth is to relieve prisoners of the shackles of flesh and skin on their way.
In the last year of Emperor Wen of Sui's reign, there was a major event that caused a sensation in the whole country, that is, Wang Jia, who joined the army in Qi Prefecture, and the prisoners escorting him agreed on a meeting period in the middle of the way.
According to volume 86 of the "History of the North", Wang Jia was not famous at first, but was later sent by the state government to escort the exiled prisoner Li Shan and more than seventy other people to the capital. At that time, the system stipulated that exiled prisoners should be escorted in chains.
When Wang Jia and his party escorted the prisoners to Xingyang, he was very sympathetic to the pain suffered by the prisoners and developed compassion. He gathered the prisoners together and said to them, "The secretaries have already violated the criminal law of the state and defaced the famous religion, and now their bodies are suffering from the shackles of ropes, and this is the responsibility you must bear." Aren't you ashamed that now you are going to have to work hard to carry your soldiers and soldiers to suffer together? ”
Li Shan and the others said in unison, "I am really sorry that I am guilty, and even the adults have suffered."
Wang Jia saw that these people still had a conscience, and then enlightened: "I see that you people, who should not have been bad in essence, were only confused for a while, violated the constitution of the country, and now they are suffering from wearing shackles and being exiled." If I ask you to remove the shackles and gather in the capital according to the time prescribed by the government, will you be able to not violate the deadline, not lose faith, not escape, and arrive on time? ”
When the prisoners heard this, they were overjoyed, and all of them prostrated their heads in thanks, and expressed their words with full mouths: "Thank you for your mercy!" I will not dare to violate the deadline. ”
Therefore, Wang Jia asked the escorting soldiers to lift all the shackles of the prisoners, and also dismissed the escort soldiers. Wang Jia made a pact with the prisoners: "You will all arrive in the capital on a certain day, and if anyone does not abide by the agreement, I will die for you." The prisoners were released, and Wang Jia also ran in the direction of the capital.
The prisoners who had lifted their shackles were not to mention how happy they were, and they were moved to tears, and they agreed to encourage each other: they must live up to Wang Jia's kindness. In the end, all the prisoners "arrived on schedule and did not defect at all".
When Emperor Wen of Sui heard about this incident, he was very surprised, so he summoned Wang Jia, not only did not blame him for making decisions and operating in violation of the law, but also praised him for doing a good job and winning the hearts and minds of the people for the imperial court. Therefore, Emperor Wen of Sui simply summoned all the prisoners in this group to receive them, and at the same time, the emperor was generous, so that the prisoners could "bring their wives and wives into the room", and let them also bring their wives and children with them, and set up a banquet in the palace court to entertain them, and after the banquet, all of them pardoned these prisoners who paid attention to honesty.
Immediately afterward, Emperor Wen of Sui issued an edict, emphasizing the importance of treating people with sincerity and moralizing people, and emphasizing that those who have gone astray should be given the opportunity to reform themselves. The emperor's edict reads something like this: "All who are alive contain spiritual qualities, know likes and dislikes, and know right and wrong." If we are sincere and exhorted, then the world will be submissive and everyone will be good. In the past, there was chaos in the sea, the morality was abolished, the officials had no heart of love, and Zhaoshu harbored treacherous intentions, so the prison lawsuits were endless, and it was difficult to reason. He was ordained to heaven, to raise all his surnames, to think of obeying the holy law, to moralize people, and to work diligently day and night, which meant so. And (Wang) Jia deeply understands the meaning of the transformation and sincerely preaches; (Li) participates in the enlightenment and goes to the Xiansi on his own. Those who lead the land are not difficult to teach, but the good is that the officials do not show their knowledge, causing the order to fall into sin and have no reason to rehabilitate. If the officials exhaust the king's jia, everyone is Li San's generation, and the punishment measures are not used, how far away! Subsequently, Wang Jia was promoted to the rank of Yong County.
Wang Jia did not live up to the trust of the imperial court, and had a good reputation for being diligent and honest and caring for the people's livelihood, which is also recorded in volume 73 of the Book of Sui.
This trust in prisoners is based on mutual trust between people outside the provisions of the law, sometimes in terms of the forgiveness and trust of government officials in those with criminal records.
In the Yuan Dynasty, Zhang Yanghao was not only a writer, but also wrote famous literary works such as the scattered song "Hillside Sheep • Tong Care For Ancients", but also made great achievements in politics.
In the ninth year of Yuan Dade (1305), Zhang Yanghao was selected by Zhongshu Province to appoint Yin of Tangyi County (in present-day Shandong), and he took the lead in breaking down evil customs, destroying more than 30 obscene shrines, severely punishing Li Hu, the leader of the criminal and evil forces who were "violent and harmful" in the local area, and "putting all the laws" of the criminal and evil forces, and the common people clapped their hands and applauded.
According to the "Biography of Zhang Yanghao" in volume 175 of the "History of the Yuan", when Zhang Yanghao was in Tangyi County, he also did one thing, that is, "to strike away the old thief's synodic participants". Originally, local policy stipulated that those convicted robbers, since they were released from prison, must also go to the county court on the first and fifteenth day of each month to report whether they had committed any more misconduct such as stealing and pickpocketing.
Zhang Yanghao believes that "all of them are good people, forced by hunger and cold, and they have no choice but to steal their ears, and if they are punished, they are like thieves, which is the road to self-renewal." Therefore, the original unreasonable rules were abolished, and those who had committed theft were given the opportunity to become human again.
Those who had been robbers were grateful and told each other, "Don't live up to Zhang Gong." Three years later, Zhang Yanghao was transferred to the imperial court and became the inspector of imperial history, and the local people did not forget him, "for the erection of a monument to praise virtue" as a memorial.
The fifth is to exchange the release of prisoners by disposing of the offending prison guards.
The release of detainees has also been achieved indirectly through the disposal of prison guards and the rectification of discipline in history.
According to the "History of the South" volume 70 "Biography of the Officials", during the Southern Song Dynasty, there was a man named Ji Han, during the song Emperor Liu Yilong Yuanjia, who served as an official to liang and southern Xu Erzhou assassin history, and later promoted to Yizhou thorn history, and increased the authority to supervise local officials. JiHan worked properly everywhere he went to be an official, and although he had the appearance of an official, the officials and the common people said that he was good. Later, he was also an official in xuzhou to assassinate the history, supervising the military forces of Xu and Liang of Erzhou.
At that time, there was a "death row prisoner" who had committed a capital crime who was supposed to be executed, but the "pawn" officer wanted to keep this death row prisoner from dying, so he ran to The Eight Guanzhai in Jihan's office to talk about it. Jihan carefully read the prisoner's criminal file and did not express an opinion, but simply asked the registrar to leave and asked him to report the situation again tomorrow. By the next morning, the registrar felt that something was wrong and did not dare to report it again.
When Jihan saw that the signatory had not returned to report, he was called in. When the registrar heard this, he felt that something was not good, so he walked in trembling. Jihan turned over yesterday's document in front of the registrar, pretended to turn it over, and said to him: "Your excellency's opinion is that you want to forgive this death row prisoner, and you have the heart to let him live, right?" You made this clear to me yesterday. But as you know, this prisoner has committed a heinous crime and cannot be forgiven and appeased. Since you want to be gracious to him and sell your personal affection, then his sins can only be replaced by you. After saying that, I couldn't help but say, "Come on!"! He ordered that the registrar be taken into custody on the spot and imprisoned. Jihan then ordered that the registrar be put to death immediately.
Jihan also said that he had a point, and released the "death row prisoner" who had committed the original death penalty: "The original prisoner's life."
JiHan's principles and work style of "criminal administration" are so tough that they will never allow their subordinate officials to engage in acts of personal fraud. Since that incident, none of Jihan's subordinates have not obeyed the discipline of the prison, and they are very afraid and obedient to Jihan, and they no longer dare to think about or do the "forbidden" thing.
The sixth is the emergence of prisoners waiting for opportunities to flee due to poor supervision.
It should be said that feudal government officials will temporarily release prisoners within their own areas of competence, and if the ideological work is not in place, if the equal emphasis is not achieved, and the two sides have not established a relationship of good faith, there is still a considerable risk. In history, there have been cases in which prisoners fled in a big way due to poor management when they "let the wind blow". The Book of Chen, volume 21, "The Biography of Zhang Zhonglie", records an incident in which a prisoner fled, which is very intriguing.
Zhang Zhong was a native of Wu County, and his ancestors and fathers were all officials in the Song and Liang dynasties of the Southern Dynasty. He is a quiet person, lives in an elegant and upright place, does not make vain friends, and when he grows up, he is more deep and quiet, has a great knowledge, has a prime minister, and is respected by his peers. During the Liang Dynasty, Zhang Zhongguan was the chief of the Zhongjun and Xuancheng palaces. In the Chen Dynasty, he was also appointed as the secretary of Taifu, and in the second year of Tianjia (561), he was promoted to Zuo Min Shangshu and promoted to shizhong (侍中) and leading infantry lieutenants. During the reign of Emperor Chen, he led Yangzhou and Eastern Yangzhou. After Emperor Xuan of Chen ascended the throne, he was promoted to the rank of Capital Official Shangshu (尚書), the general of the Leading Left Horse, and the Shu Ling (中書令), still the official of zhongzhong.
Zhang Zhong is benevolent and generous, although he has always held important positions, but his family property has been empty, but he has been quiet all day long, and he does not think about it. He once went to Wuxi as an official, found that those heavy prisoners were very pitiful in prison, and in the cold weather in winter, he walked out of the palace and personally "exhaled the exposure sun" to call out these heavy prisoners and let them go outside to bask in the sun and warm up.
These heavy prisoners could go outside to bask in the sun and warm up at first sight, and they could move freely, not to mention how happy they were, they couldn't believe it. After a while, these guys found that there were no strictly guarded correctional personnel around them, there was no high-wall barbed wire fence or the like around the prison, and there was no guarded guard at the door, so they all ran away at once, "lost", and could no longer find anyone.
The prison stabbed such a big leak, and the incident soon spread from Wuxi to the capital Jiankang (present-day Nanjing), and the imperial court was greatly shocked. However, after Chen Xuandi Chen Yan knew about this matter, he just laughed, and he thought of Zhang Zhongping's personality and ability to do things, so he did not "deeply blame" him for dereliction of duty, but simply criticized the end of the matter.
In fact, Emperor Xuan of Chen blessed Zhang Zhong for a deep-seated reason. However, it turned out that after The Chen Xuan Emperor Chen Huan became emperor in 569 AD, Zhang Zhong's daughter became the second son of Emperor Chen Xuan and the concubine of Chen Shuling, the King of Sixing, and the two sides were "pro-family" relations, and it was not difficult to understand that the emperor had a side to the derelict behavior of this pro-family official. Because Zhang Zhongping did not manage the family property and lived in a secluded place, Emperor Xuan of Chen had no choice but to give him a mansion and a marquis rank in Wuxi and Jiaxing County. When Zhang Zhong went to Wuxi as an official, he did a trick to let all the prisoners flee, which can also be regarded as leaving a joke for eternity.
From the historical release of prisoners, it can be seen that from ancient times to the present, the law has always only been at work for those who abide by discipline and law, and honesty is only regarded as a commitment to life among those who abide by honesty.